A Tale of Two Ski Towns: St. Moritz, Switzerland & Ischgl, Austria

We were heading to ski for a month in two places we couldn't wait to visit: St. Moritz, Switzerland and Ischgl, Austria. We knew these two towns would be different; we just had no idea how different.

The first time we ever skied in Europe, years ago, St. Moritz was the plan. Then a friend suggested Zermatt instead and so we never made it (that said, we'd take Zermatt over St. Moritz any day, and we're about to tell you why). So, this little Swiss ski town has been on our radar for a long time. And maybe the expectations were too high...maybe we believed all the hype...all in all, we had a great time but wouldn't go back.

We planned our trip around a few events, the ICE St. Moritz (International Concours d'Elegance) and White Turf. Basically, cars and horses. Both events take place on the frozen lake, which is pretty cool because the entire time you're looking down, you're thinking, is this thing going to crack? The answer is no, in all the years the events have taken place, the ice has stayed firm. We managed to make it out alive.

Our first weekend we attended The ICE St. Moritz, a storied car event that transforms the frozen lake into a showcase for antique and luxury high performance automobiles. You get to see historic, vintage, and classic racing cars beside the latest models of Bugatti, Maserati, Ferrari, Pagani, and more.

But that's only part of the show.

Because the people watching is also quite a sight. Fur jackets, designer clothes, and extravagant everything. It was the place to be and be seen, if that's your thing. And there's live music, food, cocktails, even a figure skating show throughout the day right there on the ice. Of course, watching the cars race around the ice track is an amazing sight to see. The weather was sunny and gorgeous; the Swiss Air Force flew overhead to say hello and perform some crazy flying feats. We had a wonderful time.

That said...we expected more. We've attended other Concours d'Elegance events and there was more to see with more interesting and exotic cars. But this was a great way to start our stay in St. Moritz, and it got us excited to do our own racing on the ski mountain.

Surprise: the skiing. Overall, the mountain (Corviglia) isn't particularly large or challenging, but we still had fun carving through fresh snow and groomed runs. Much to our surprise, the crowd was avoiding the powder in favor of the groomers, so we made the best of that, and Joe skied lots of fresh powder.

During our first few days, Piz Nair, the highest peak in the resort at 3056 meters, wasn't operating but fortunately we got to explore this before we left, and it ended up being the most fun. There's even a restaurant way up there where we had a fabulous lunch overlooking the entire valley. All the on-mountain restaurants were good, but the view from the top was worth taking an hour to sit down and eat.

After a few days skiing Corviglia, we were ready for something different, so we took a quick and really beautiful bus ride to the ski area of Corvatsch. As the highest ski resort in the Grisons, Corvatsch gave us exactly what we were looking for.

The runs were awesome and vast, the views stunning, and we were super excited we got to explore this place—St. Moritz may get the hype, but neighboring Corvatsch has the skiing!

The weekend after ICE, the lake turned from cars to horses for all sorts of events, from gallop and trotting races to skijoring, a sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse. We watched some of the races and it was cool, but after the car event it just felt like more of the same only with hooves.

As for the town...not our favorite by any means. We actually found it pretty boring. The après ski scene is pretty mellow, and it's not super strollable like other European ski villages (mostly because it's built up a hill), but if shopping is your thing there's plenty of it. And we also had some great meals, especially at Corvatsch Restaurant, a classically Alpine spot with local specialties.

We are huge fans of raclette, the famously pungent cheese of Switzerland, and the platter here was spot on. We loved it so much we went twice! If the stench of raclette cheese combined with boiled potatoes, pickles and onions is your thing, this is your place! We also enjoyed a lovely birthday dinner with Engadine and international specialties at Viva. And the rooftop spa at Laudinella Hotel was a much-appreciated rest from the skiing and had a spectacular view of the lake while we soaked in the hot tub.

After our time in St. Moritz we were ready to move on, especially because we'd heard Ischgl, Austria was going to be way more lively. And everything we'd heard was true.

We hired a car for the 2.5-hour ride, which was really scenic and felt way shorter. The town of Ischgl isn't terribly charming in terms of style, but what it lacks in old-world charm it makes up for in skiing and fun.

Our first day we immediately knew the mountain was a step up from St. Moritz—way up. There's a reason they call this place Tyrolian Ski Paradise.

With 239 kilometers of slopes, we were never bored and could always stay challenged. And something we didn't know in advance, the resort spans two countries, with cross-border skiing between Tyrol and Switzerland (discovered when we went to pay for lunch and they wanted Swiss Francs instead of Euros). The cross-border ski area is not only the third largest in Tyrol, but also one of the most varied, with enjoyable carving runs and challenging trails up to 11 kilometers long. The mountain has great restaurants and enough to never have to eat at the same place twice.

The conditions were great when we were there, from super sunny to...white out. In about five minutes. One gorgeous, sunny day we skied across and down to Switzerland while a few clouds rolled in.

We boarded the gondola back to the peak in Austria and at the top we suddenly found ourselves in crazy wind and snow going sideways. Snow was dumping, winds were howling at 50+ MPH, and visibility was near zero. At the top, groups of people were anxiously struggling to adjust their clothing to protect themselves from this sudden weather change. Families were huddled together looking for refuge but there was none. The only way out of this blizzard was down. Which was a little...interesting. But also, a total blast because we couldn't see where we were going or how to get there. But it was an adventure and we made it safely.

So, if Ischgl is known for its skiing, it's renowned worldwide for its lively après ski scene—it's not called the après ski capital of the Tyrolean Alps for nothing! (And that's saying something because Austrian ski towns are always the most fun.)

Après here is insane. It starts on mountain at Paznauner Taja with a live DJ, smoke, table dancing, and too few restrooms (which is why we saw so many men just deciding to take care of their business outside).

Once you ski down into the village you can step right out of your skis to a huge variety of places, all awaiting the skiers to get things going.

We had to see what all the hype was about at Trofana Alm, known for its two-story, high-energy party atmosphere and live DJs, arguably the top spot in Ischgl. We got there a little early because we wanted a table, but it quickly filled up and... wow.

This place is a blast. Everyone singing German ski songs, dancing on tables, doing shots of Jägermeister and pear schnapps, and servers bringing racks of ten beers at a time (it's tradition to stack your empty Jäger bottles like Jenga blocks on your table after every shot—we did our best to keep up). It was amazing (fortunately we've been to enough of these that we can sing along even if we have no idea what we're saying). There were a few other après ski places that were favorites of ours, like Kuhstall, Niki's Stadl, and Kitzloch. But honestly, the entire town is one big party so you can't go wrong anywhere.

Getting around town is super easy, and there are three gondolas from town that take you up (Silvrettabahn, Fimbabahn, and 3-S-Pardatschgratbahn) the mountain. We stayed near Pardatschgratbahn and it was perfect...just a few steps out the door and we were on our way up! That said, we also skied down to the others to go out after skiing and, because there's an underground pedestrian tunnel with moving walkways that zips you through town, it was easy to get anywhere no matter where you stay.

The food in Ischgl surprised us—we were expecting typical Austrian fare, but we had truly amazing and varied meals in beautiful restaurants, including Peak, Eldorado, and Genussrestaurant Sunna. We would go back to all of them! Full disclosure: it wasn't always beautiful restaurants and fabulous meals...two nights we just stopped at Burger King on our way home from the bars—and we loved every bite of our burgers and fries.

A month in two ski towns with two very different experiences. We'd definitely go back to Ischgl for the skiing and overall vibe, and we will! St. Moritz was a one and done. After our time in the snow, we were heading to the south of France for Carnival in Nice and a day at Isola 2000 to check out the skiing less than two hours from Mediterranean Sea. But Ischgl stole our hearts and we were sure nothing else would quite compare!

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Enjoy a taste of our travels with drink recipes on Instagram - Worldwide.Cocktails.